What is the treatment for neonatal jaundice?

What is the treatment for neonatal jaundice?

If neonatal jaundice is pathological, it should be treated actively to avoid serious harm to the baby's health. Common treatments for neonatal jaundice are medication and phototherapy. If the baby's jaundice is more severe, you can also choose exchange transfusion therapy. Supportive treatment should also be given to prevent the occurrence of bilirubin encephalopathy.

1. Drug treatment

When pathological jaundice occurs, drug treatment can be given to reduce the formation of bilirubin, including the use of liver enzyme inducers such as phenobarbital to accelerate the decomposition and conversion of bilirubin, or intravenous immunoglobulin to prevent hemolysis. Chinese patent medicines also have a good therapeutic effect on neonatal jaundice, such as Gardenia Oral Liquid, Anti-inflammatory Gallbladder Oral Liquid, etc., which can be taken under the guidance of a doctor.

2. Light therapy

Phototherapy mainly uses blue light to hydrolyze bilirubin in the baby's body, making it easier to excrete. Phototherapy is the simplest and most effective way to treat jaundice. During the treatment, the baby's reproductive organs and eyes are covered, and the rest of the body is exposed. The baby is placed in a phototherapy box for blue light exposure. After 24 to 48 hours of blue light exposure, the baby's jaundice can generally subside.

3. Exchange Blood Therapy

If the baby has hemolytic jaundice, exchange transfusion therapy can be used to replace allergic red blood cells, reduce hemolysis, and reduce bilirubin in the body. Exchange transfusion therapy requires high technical skills from doctors and may also cause some adverse reactions during the transfusion process. Exchange transfusion therapy should be performed by regular hospitals.

4. Supportive Therapy

Supportive treatment is mainly to prevent and treat hypoxia, infection, hypercapnia, high osmotic drug infusion, etc., to prevent the occurrence of bilirubin encephalopathy. If jaundice is caused by elevated direct bilirubin, the cause should be further identified. If it is caused by infection, anti-infection treatment should be performed. Due to liver function damage, liver protection treatment should be performed. Due to hepatobiliary atresia, surgical treatment is required.